H.R. 9340 Ratepayer Protection Act (House-passed 417-3; blocked in Senate)

United States — H.R. 9340, Ratepayer Protection Act (119th Congress): PASSED THE HOUSE 417-3 UNDER SUSPENSION OF THE RULES on September 16, 2026, Then BLOCKED IN THE SENATE THE NEXT DAY When Sen. Martin Heinrich Objected to Sen. Jon Husted's Unanimous-Consent Request
United States · Ratepayer Protection Act, H.R. 9340, 119th Cong. (2026) (passed House Sept. 16, 2026; H. Rept. 119-814); Senate companion S. 5028 (Husted)

Status
Proposed / pending
Applies to
If enacted, electric utilities setting rates for large-load customers, and state regulatory authorities and nonregulated utilities required to consider the standard; the cost obligation falls on non-residential customers with 100 MW or more aggregate peak demand at a single site or campus.

The Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 9340) is the first bill Congress has advanced that directly addresses the economic impact of the data center boom, and as of late September 2026 IT IS NOT LAW. THE HOUSE PASSED IT 417-3 on September 16, 2026, under SUSPENSION OF THE RULES — a fast-track procedure normally reserved for non-controversial measures, requiring a two-thirds majority. WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES IS NARROWER THAN THE MARGIN SUGGESTS. It amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to add a federal standard that states must CONSIDER but need not adopt: rates for large-load customers — data centers with 100 megawatts or more of peak demand at a single site or campus — would recover the full incremental cost of any generation, transmission or distribution upgrade needed to serve them, including if the customer later walks away, and utilities would collect financial assurances before building those upgrades. State regulators must start considering it within one year and decide within two years, and they may decide NO. On September 17, Sen. JON HUSTED (R-Ohio) sought UNANIMOUS CONSENT to pass the bill and Sen. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-New Mexico), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, OBJECTED. On September 24 the bill was placed directly on the Senate calendar, where it awaits floor action; the Senate companion, S. 5028, sits in committee.

Who is protected: If enacted, ordinary electric ratepayers, by requiring that the incremental cost of grid upgrades serving very large loads be recovered from the large-load customer rather than spread across the ratebase.

Legal detail

UNITED STATES — H.R. 9340, RATEPAYER PROTECTION ACT, 119th Congress. STATUS: PASSED THE HOUSE; ON SENATE CALENDAR. NOT ENACTED. Introduced 2026-06-18 by Rep. GABE EVANS (R-CO) with Rep. KATHY CASTOR (D-FL). Energy and Commerce ordered it reported in the nature of a substitute 52-0 on 2026-07-21; reported 2026-09-10 (H. Rept. 119-814). HOUSE ACTION: passed, as amended, 417-3 (Roll no. 312) on 2026-09-16 under suspension of the rules. SUBSTANCE (engrossed text): adds PURPA § 111(d)(22), a standard under which rates for a large-load customer are designed to recover the full, incremental cost of any generation, transmission or distribution upgrade necessary to serve it — including where the customer terminates its contract or stops buying power — and the utility must require financial assurances or contributions before undertaking the upgrade. 'Large-load customer' = a non-residential consumer that, on or after enactment, requests or enters an agreement for facilities that primarily operate information-technology infrastructure for data storage and computational applications and have aggregate peak demand of 100 MW or more at a single site or campus. PURPA § 112(b)(9): each state regulatory authority and non-regulated utility must commence consideration (or set a hearing) within 1 year and complete consideration and make a determination within 2 years; § 112(i) exempts states that already implemented, considered or voted on a comparable standard. PURPA standards impose a duty to consider and determine; THEY DO NOT COMPEL ADOPTION. SENATE: received 2026-09-17; that day Sen. JON HUSTED (R-Ohio) sought unanimous consent to pass it and Sen. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-N.M.), ranking member of Senate Energy and Natural Resources, objected (secondary reporting; Utility Dive reports he called the standard voluntary and pressed his GRID Savings Act). Read twice and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders, Calendar No. 684, on 2026-09-24. Senate companion S. 5028 (Husted, introduced 2026-07-16) remains in Energy and Natural Resources. STATE ANALOGUES ALREADY INDEXED: TN HB 1847 data center ratepayer protection (2026), Oklahoma HB 2992 data center ratepayer protection (2026), S731/A796 — Data center ratepayer protection and grid-demand, AZ HB 2756 Utilities/High Load Factor.

Key facts

JurisdictionUnited States
LevelFederal
CitationRatepayer Protection Act, H.R. 9340, 119th Cong. (2026) (passed House Sept. 16, 2026; H. Rept. 119-814); Senate companion S. 5028 (Husted)
Private right of actionNo, agency enforcement only
PenaltiesNone in the bill. PURPA consideration standards carry no penalty for a state that considers the standard and declines to adopt it.
Topicsdata-center siting and energy · consumer protection
Bill textUS H.R. 9340 Ratepayer Protection Act (House-passed 417-3; blocked in Senate) — official record (www.govinfo.gov)

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